P475

Jan 18, 2024

COTABATO CITY—At least P475 million will be entering the economy of the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM), brightening up the region's investment outlook for this year, the region's Board of Investments (BOI) reported.

Mohamad Omar Pasigan, chair of the Bangsamoro BOI, said the three new projects would all be undertaken by Filipino companies, namely, the P295-million Beauty of Life beach resort development in Kusiong, Datu Odin Sinsuat, Maguindanao del Norte; the P149-million halal poultry production and processing by KS Agricultural Products Trading in Barangay Kamasi, Ampatuan, Maguindanao del Sur; and the P30.7-million Shahada Medical and Diagnostic Clinic along Sousa Street, Rosary Heights 13 in this city.

Pasigan said all three companies were 100 percent Filipino-owned, each a sole proprietorship and were expected to generate jobs for 214 workers.

He said the beach resort, expected to employ 44 workers, was the first of its kind to register in the region. "It would be a good avenue for tourists and BARMM guests to experience the vastness of water in this part of Maguindanao," he said.

He said investments in tourism such as that of the resort would provide the much needed boost to the economy crippled by the COVID-19 pandemic and would eventually sustain other tourism-related destinations and businesses in BARMM.

KS Agricultural Products Trading, which engages in halal poultry production and processing, will employ some 150 workers for the growing, slaughtering and marketing of its poultry broilers. The company also has a feed mill for corn, palay, copra and malunggay to be processed into formulated halal feed concentrate in the form of mash, pellets and crumble feeds.

Mohammad Yacob of the BARMM Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Agrarian Reform said he was glad to hear about the new halal project since his office had been promoting the halal industry in the region, which is a system of processing products done in accordance with Islamic laws.

"We are very happy that we now have halal poultry in the BARMM," he said, adding the region would "strengthen regulations on halal certification especially in areas where the majority of the population are Muslim."

The Shahada Medical and Diagnostic Clinic, expected to employ 20 workers, will be a good avenue for health professionals to work and provide timely, cost-effective and high-quality diagnostic care for patients in a safe and secure environment, said BARMM Investment and Tourism Minister Abuamri Taddik.

The Bangsamoro BOI targets some P2-billion investments this year, Pasigan said.

"We will continue to invite investors—local, national, international—to the Bangsamoro, with an aim to boost our economy," said Datu Habib Ambolodto, newly appointed member of the Bangsamoro BOI Board. INQ

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